Their Final Encounter
by lgkavanagh22
Summary: George ventures into the Forbidden Forrest after the Battle of Hogwarts and finds a Stone that gives him the chance to see his twin one last time.
1. From George's Perspective

**_A/N: My first HP fanfic, therefore my first time attempting to capture these characters. Decided to go for a more solemn situation for my first attempt. Hope you like it. x_**

* * *

I had to get away. I couldn't stand to be around that castle any longer.

How could I? All the destruction, all the people crying, all the dead bodies that were laying in a line.

A line that contained Fred's corpse.

Fred, my twin brother, my best mate, the man I had gone through my entire life with.

He's dead now.

He and I will never laugh together again. We won't pull pranks or invent spells or make fun of Percy or Ron ever again. We won't be there to support each other, to comfort each other or encourage each other. He's gone.

So I had to get out. Leave the castle and just be alone.

Alone. That was a concept I had to get used to.

People tried to stop me or hold me back as I left, telling me it wasn't safe. Of course it was safe. You-Know-Who had been killed. And if it wasn't safe, I'd get to join my brother.

I shrugged everyone off, and Ron finally saved me with a "Just let him go."

I was emotionless as my legs carried me numbly into the Dark Forrest. I was fighting back tears, but I don't know why. I was alone, I could cry all I wanted. Even in the presence of other people, who was going to fault a guy for crying over the death of his twin?

Maybe I felt like crying would make things real. Maybe that would force me to accept the reality that I was trying to push away.

I'm not sure how long I walked before I broke down. Maybe one minute, maybe five, maybe ten, but eventually I sunk to my knees and sobbed.

My body convulsed with pent-up sadness. Huge tears streamed down my dirty face, stinging my eyes because they were welling up so fast. My nose was running and my mouth became dry, but I couldn't stop.

So I cried. I sat and cried for what felt like hours. Cried because I had lost Fred, cried because I didn't get to say goodbye, cried because I wasn't there to save him, cried because it hadn't been me, cried for my family who would also have to deal with losing a brother and a son, cried because I was being selfish by not being there to comfort them and mourn with them.

Eventually I cried to the point where it pulled up everything in my stomach with it. I leaned forward as my stomach emptied its contents, putting my hands down so I was on all fours.

But I put my right hand right into a stone. I winced a bit, but it was more annoying than anything. As I sat back up, I picked up the stone.

It didn't look like a normal stone. It looked special. I gripped it in my hand, holding onto it desperately as if dropping it would kill me. After a while I started to turn it over in my hands, tears still running down my cheeks.

As I turned it, I felt it heat up slightly. Not to the point of burning me, but enough that I knew that it wasn't natural. Something was happening. I wasn't sure what until I heard a voice behind me.

"Who's the Saintlike one now, Gerogie?"

I whipped around, looking for the source of the voice. It hadn't been him, it couldn't have been him.

But it was.

Standing off in the distance was Fred. My brother. My twin. My best friend.

He had a blue aura about him, but he was smiling that mischievous smile that everyone said we shared.

"Fred!" I screamed. I jumped up and sprinted full speed towards him, arms out and ready to throw around him.

But I ran right through him.

I whipped back around to see him laughing. "Smooth move, where'd you come up with that one?"

I froze, stunned. What was going on?

"Haven't you figured it out yet? Man, your wits are slowing down," he said, pointing to the stone I was now barely clutching in my hand. "Don't you recall the wonderful stories our mother used to tell us, way back in the day, about such things as…the Deathly Hallows?"

I could only stare at him, bewildered. Leave it to my brother to have just died, come back to life, and the first thing he talks about is… old legends?

But…

No, it was just a legend. It couldn't possibly be-

"The Resurrection Stone?" I asked quietly.

Fred nodded. "The one and only. Have to say, I'm glad you found it, George. I was afraid I was gonna have to go without a goodbye."

"Goodbye? But… but this doesn't have to be goodbye! Fred, if this really is the Resurrection Stone, if this really is you, then you can stay! And we can make jokes and invent new products- man, we could really freak some people out with a dead person walking around the shop- and we can..."

Fred chuckled. "Ah, I knew you'd think that. See, if I was in your position, I'd have calmly remembered the story and known that you can't bring someone back permanently. It'd keep both of us from happiness and you'd end up hanging yourself or blowing yourself up with a Diabolic Dare Devil to come join me. Which you shouldn't do," he said suspiciously, raising his eyebrows, "because if you die, and I'm already dead, then the world has lost its two greatest people."

I knew he was trying to be funny and cheer me up, but, for the first time, it wasn't working.

"B-But what about Mom? Don't you want to see her again? And Dad? And Ginny, and Ron, and Charlie, and Bill, and Percy, and- and Angelina, and Lee, and Harry, and Hermione, and-"

"George," he interrupted. "I'm gonna break something to you, and it may be hard for you to hear, and not just because you only have one ear." He smiled, and I smiled a little at that one, too. "But I'm dead. I'm not entirely sure how I died, but I did. And the moment I died, we started living in two completely different worlds. Which is weird, considering we've never even lived in different rooms. But in any case, this is how it is now."

"It doesn't have to be-"

"Yes, it does. George, please. It's better this way. The world is only big enough for one Weasley twin, and I gotta admit, I'm glad it's you."

"That makes one of us," I said sadly. "How am I gonna live without you, Fred? It should have been me, we should have died together, or I could have saved you…"

Fred chuckled again. "Be honest with me here, mate. If this was the other way around, would you be content with me saying I'd rather have died than you?" He didn't wait for a response. "No, you wouldn't. You'd want me to get on with life… though I'll admit I'm not sure I'd be able to… But I know you, and I know that you're going to be okay."

"How can you think I'll be okay?" I asked him, tears beginning to well up in my eyes again. "Fred, when you were killed, some people lost a friend. Lee lost a best friend. Angelina lost the man she loved. Ginny, Ron, Percy, Charlie, and Bill lost a brother. Mom and Dad lost a son. But I-" my voice cracked and I got choked up. "I lost my other half."

Fred was still smiling, but I could see sadness cloud his eyes. "George, you don't need me in order to be whole. You have skills and traits that I could never have dreamed of having. I needed you more than you could ever have needed me. Remember when I wanted to blackmail Baggins? And you said that'd be wrong? You were always there to point me in the right direction. Now you can steer yourself in the right direction. You'll need time to heal, I understand that, but you _will_ heal. Trust me, George."

I didn't have a response to that. I knew I wouldn't heal, but arguing seemed pointless at that time. And I didn't want to argue with him, especially if this was the last time I would ever see him.

"Well," I said finally, trying to smile, "how long can you stick around?"

He smiled back, though feebly. "However long you need."

_There's not enough time in the world_, I thought to myself.

"Hey, wanna hear the last thing I ever heard in the 'real' world?" he said suddenly, smirking.

I raised my eyebrows, wondering where this was going. "What?"

"Percy making a joke! He was _joking_, George! Can you believe that? I was just saying how I couldn't believe it and how I couldn't wait to tell you, but then…well…I'm not sure what happened."

"An explosion. Outside the Room of Requirement," I told him.

He wrinkled his nose slightly. "An explosion? That's what killed me? Not a super powerful Death Eater or some super-cool secret mission, but an explosion?" He smirked. "That really _blows_."

I grinned a bit. "That was a really _blasted_ pun."

Fred laughed. "Yeah, I guess it was. But I reckon I'm still better looking than you."

My grin faded as my mind travelled back to the castle, where his body, the one identical to mine, was laying among the rest of those who had perished. The body with a lifeless face, eyes staring into nothingness.

He noticed my change in mood. "But at least you don't have me as competition anymore. You can go pick up as many Veelas as you like."

The memory of Bill and Fleur's wedding came back to me as he mentioned that.

"Fred, you're never going to get married. We won't be able to have a double wedding and switch places right before the ceremony. You're never going to have kids to pass on our jokes and pranks to. You're never going to see the shop become what you always dreamed it would be. We're not going to be able to grow old and be the life of the party like Uncle Bilius. Fred, you're…you're really dead."

I expected another large grin, a smirk, or a comment about how long it'd taken me to realize that. Instead, he looked just as sad as I was. "Yeah, I am. And maybe we won't get to do all those things, but hey, that doesn't mean you have to live any less of a life. You can be happy. You can live a full life, even without me."

He turned away slightly. "You were always stronger than me emotionally, better at handling things like this. There's a reason you're the one who survived, because you're the only one out of the two of us who can handle this. I know you can. Please. Please, George."

I wasn't sure if he was crying- could you cry after you were dead? -but he sure seemed like he was.

"Fred…" I started. What could I say in response to that? Sure, I may have been a bit stronger emotionally, but this was the most devastating thing I could ever imagine happening. Losing my twin. I wasn't going to be able to handle this, he had to know that.

But I guess I had to try. For him.

"Fred, I'm not gonna make promises here. Because I don't think I'm ever really going to be happy again. But I'll try. I'll try to live out the rest of this life. For both of us."

He smiled feebly. "Thanks, mate."

I smiled back. "I love you, Fred. And I'll miss you."

"I love you too, George."

I took a deep breath, taking in the moment. The last moment that I'd be with my twin.

And I let the stone drop from my hand.

And he vanished.


	2. From Fred's Perspective

**_A/N: I feel like for this story to be complete, we needed Fred's perspective as well as George's._**

* * *

I'm dead.

I don't know how I died, but it was quick, I know that. I can't remember feeling any pain. But maybe once you're dead, you don't remember pain.

I looked around to see where exactly I was now that I'm dead. It looked like a cleaner, shinier version of the shop, Weasley Wizard Wheezes. The one I used to own with my brother.

My brother…

George…

George!

I glanced around frantically. Where was he? A part of me wanted to find him here, to know that we weren't separated. But a bigger part of me hoped that I wouldn't see him again for a while so he could finish living out the rest of his life.

There is no concept of time when you're dead, because you're dead forever and with forever, time doesn't mean anything. So I'm not sure how long I was there before I noticed two more people in the shop.

I edged closer to them. I didn't recognize them, but they had red hair like me and the rest of my family.

The two men were standing side by side and smiling broadly. I finally decided to yell out to them. "Oi! Hello! Um, if you don't mind my asking…what exactly is going on?"

They chuckled simultaneously.

"More than you know," replied the man on the left mysteriously.

"But it will become clear soon. You have one last job to do, Fred," the other one added.

Great. Now I was more confused than I was before.

"I'm sorry, how do you know my name?" I asked them, the first of many questions that were jumbled around in my head.

"Because," the one on the right said, "you're our nephew."

"Our sister's son, to be exact," the one on the left added.

I was dumbfounded. "So you two are…"

"Fabian," said the one on the left.

"And Gideon," said the one on the right.

"Prewett," they finished together.

"Here to welcome you to the afterlife," Fabian said.

"But first, you're being summoned back on Earth," Gideon added.

My thoughts were spinning. "Summoned?"

"Yes," Gideon grinned. "It seems like someone found the Resurrection Stone, and he wants to bring you back."

This peaked my curiosity. "Who?" I asked.

Fabian smiled, a combination of mischievousness and sadness. "Who do you think?"

I lit up. I grinned as big as I ever had. I didn't even need to hear their confirmation, I knew they would have just flat-out told me if it was someone else.

I got to see my brother again!

I looked from Fabian to Gideon frantically. "Really? When? How?"

They looked at each other.

"Well, it should be happening right about…"

Perfectly on cue, my world turned into a swirling black vortex. I felt myself blowing like the wind, almost as if I didn't have a body anymore and my mind was suspended on its own. Suddenly, that sensation stopped and I found myself in the Forbidden Forest. I heard sniffling and occasional gasps of sobs coming from behind me.

I turned around and saw George. He was hunched over on his knees, his back turned to me. I was bursting with excitement, but I didn't want to make matters worse by freaking him out or giving him false hope. How should I approach this?

I decided to go with my first instinct and make a joke.

"Who's the Saintlike one now, Georgie?"

He turned around, a look of disbelief on his face. Finally, he must have decided it was real, because he screamed "Fred!" and ran to give me a hug.

Of course, I didn't really have a tangible body, and he ran right through me. I laughed.

"Smooth move, where'd you come up with that one?" I joked.

He still looked in shock, apparently not quite knowing what was going on.

"Haven't you figured it out yet? Man, your wits are slowing down," I said, gesturing to the Stone. "Don't you recall the wonderful stories our mother used to tell us, way back in the day, about such things as," I paused for dramatic effect, "the Deathly Hallows?"

He looked confused for a moment, then realization came over his face. "The Resurrection Stone?" he asked me.

I nodded confirmation. "The one and only. Have to say, I'm glad you found it, George. I was afraid I was gonna have to go without a goodbye."

I was sure of what his response to this would be. He would insist that I could stay. That I never had to go.

"Goodbye? But… but this doesn't have to be goodbye! Fred, if this really is the Resurrection Stone, if this really is you, then you can stay! And we can make jokes and invent new products- man, we could really freak some people out with a dead person walking around the shop- and we can..."

I shook my head and chuckled. "Ah, I knew you'd think that," I interrupted. "See, if I was in your position, I'd have calmly remembered the story and known that you can't bring someone back permanently."

I decided to elaborate. "It'd keep both of us from happiness and you'd end up hanging yourself or blowing yourself up with a Diabolic Dare Devil to come join me," I immediately regretted planting that idea in his mind and quickly added, "Which you shouldn't do, because if you die, and I'm already dead, then the world has lost its two greatest people." I tried to throw in some lightheartedness. I don't think it worked very well.

"B-But what about Mom?" George asked anxiously. "Don't you want to see her again?" _Of course_, I thought.

"And Dad?" _Absolutely. They're my parents, I'd give anything to see them again._

"And Ginny," _Our only sister._

"And Ron," _We teased him so much. Had it been too much?_

"And Charlie," _It'd been ages since I'd seen him. Now I'd never see him again._

"And Bill," _The brother I looked up to most._

"And Percy," _The last person I ever spoke to._

"And- and Angelina_," I still loved her. Could we have worked things out?_

"And Lee," _George's and my closest friend._

"And Harry, and Hermione,"_ I'd come to love those two like family_

"And-"

I couldn't take it anymore, he had to realize the reality. "George," I interrupted again. "I'm gonna break something to you, and it may be hard for you to hear, and not just because you only have one ear." I grinned at that, and grinned wider when I saw George manage a smile, too. "But I'm dead. I'm not entirely sure how I died, but I did. And the moment I died, we started living in two completely different worlds." I paused. "Which is weird, considering we've never even lived in different rooms. But in any case, this is how it is now."

"It doesn't have to be-" he protested.

"Yes, it does." I cut him off. "George, please. It's better this way." He had to believe it. He had to somehow be okay living on his own. "The world is only big enough for one Weasley twin, and I gotta admit, I'm glad it's you."

And I was. I was extremely glad that it was him. Because deep down in my soul, I knew I wouldn't have been strong enough to make it without him.

"That makes one of us. How am I gonna live without you, Fred?" George was saying, his voice heavy with sadness. "It should have been me, we should have died together, or I could have saved you…"

I laughed, though I was starting to catch some of George's sorrow. I needed to try to keep the mood as light as possible. "Be honest with me here, mate. If this was the other way around, would be content with me saying I'd rather have died than you? No, you wouldn't," I answered myself. "You'd want me to get on with life," I paused, deciding to be completely honest, "though I'll admit I'm not sure I'd be able to… But I know you, and I know that you're going to be okay."

I saw George's eyes moisten with tears. "How can you think I'll be okay? Fred, when you were killed, some people lost a friend. Lee lost a best friend. Angelina lost the man she loved. Ginny, Ron, Percy, Charlie, and Bill lost a brother. Mom and Dad lost a son. But I-" his voice trembled and I could tell he was on the verge of a break down. "I lost my other half."

My smile faded into one of sadness. I needed to get him to see past this tragedy.

"George, you don't need me in order to be whole. You have skills and traits that I could never have dreamed of having. I needed you more than you could ever have needed me," I said. I almost started to choke up myself. "Remember when I wanted to blackmail Baggins? And you said that'd be wrong? You were always there to point me in the right direction. Now you can steer yourself in the right direction. You'll need time to heal, I understand that, but you will heal. Trust me, George."

He paused, staring at the ground. I saw a tear fall off his face. But he attempted a smile, which gave me hope. "Well, how long can you stick around?"

I tried to match his smile, but I don't think I was particularly successful. "However long you need."

A thought suddenly occurred to me.

"Hey, wanna hear the last thing I ever heard in the 'real' world?" I asked eagerly, thinking maybe I had hit on something that could cheer him up.

"What?" George asked suspiciously.

"Percy making a joke! He was _joking_, George! Can you believe that? I was just saying how I couldn't believe it and how I couldn't wait to tell you, but then…" I stopped. What _had _happened to me? "Well…I'm not sure what happened."

"An explosion," George informed me. "Outside the Room of Requirement."

"An explosion?" I asked. An _explosion_?!"That's what killed me? Not a super powerful Death Eater or some super-cool secret mission, but an explosion?" My first thought was to joke about it, and I smirked. "That really _blows_."

George gave a small smile, something I was growing more and more relieved to see. "That was a really _blasted_ pun."

I laughed. Finally, some of the George I knew. "Yeah, I guess it was. But I reckon I'm still better looking than you," I said jokingly.

George's face fell into one of sadness again.

"But at least you don't have me as competition anymore. You can go pick up as many Veelas as you like," I pointed out, trying to resurrect the lightheartedness.

My attempt failed. In fact, George looked more depressed than before, and the brokenness in his voice made my heart heavy.

"Fred, you're never going to get married. We won't be able to have a double wedding and switch places right before the ceremony. You're never going to have kids to pass on our jokes and pranks to. You're never going to see the shop become what you always dreamed it would be. We're not going to be able to grow old and be the life of the party like Uncle Bilius."

But his last statement is what really got me: "Fred, you're…you're really dead."

I couldn't hide my sorrow anymore. And I couldn't lie. "Yeah, I am. And maybe we won't get to do all those things, but hey, that doesn't mean you have to live any less of a life. You can be happy. You can live a full life, even without me. You were always stronger than me emotionally, better at handling things like this."

I was emotionally destroyed at this point, and on the verge of tears. But I couldn't stop talking. George had to hear this. "There's a reason you're the one who survived, because you're the only one out of the two of us who can handle this. I know you can." I was desperate, pleading even. "Please. Please, George."

"Fred…" George was trying to be strong, I could see that. But would he remain that way? "Fred, I'm not gonna make promises here. Because I don't think I'm ever really going to be happy again. But I'll try. I'll try to live out the rest of this life. For both of us."

I smiled. That was all I could do at this point. And something told me he would be strong and survive this.

There were a million things I wanted to say, but all that came out was a soft, "Thanks, Georgie."

He smiled at me. "I love you, Fred. And I'll miss you."

"I love you too, George." I said, smiling back.

I saw him take a deep breath as I struggled to keep a smile on my face.

The stone slipped from his hand in what felt like slow motion.

But in an instant I was back in the shop, with Fabian and Gideon on either side of me.

It hit me all at once- I had just spoken to George for the last time until he joined me in death. I had left him in a completely different world. We were as separated as people could get. And I wasn't ready for that.

And I'm not sure how it was possible, but the next moment I was sobbing.

And somehow I knew I wouldn't stop until George joined me.


End file.
